Disturbances, robustness and adaptation in forest commons: comparative insights from two cases in the Southeastern Alps

Exposure to disturbances of different nature and scale can represent a threat for the survival of rural communities but also a stimulus to adjustment. Disturbance, robustness and adaptation are here examined through the lens of Forest Commons, as a typical institution, developed by communities in the southeastern Alps since several centuries. The paper relies on Commons' theory and further developments and carries out a historically-embedded analysis of disturbances, robustness and adaptation in Forest Commons of Slovenia and Veneto (Italy). Data have been drawn from multiple sources, following an approach based on an area scale and later on case-studies. The analysis focuses on evidence of Forest Commons\ub4 reactions to disturbances induced by political changes and State actions. Ostrom's design principles are used to test robustness of eight selected cases and identification of their adaptation patterns. The paper concludes by confirming Forest Commons as robust and adaptive socio-ecological systems and thus useful in Community Forestry conceptualisation. However, thanks to its cross-border analysis, it also points out future research needs for their better understanding

Globalization Impacts on Local Commons: Multiscale Strategies for Socioeconomic and Ecological Resilience

Globalization can have substantial impact on local commons by reducing sustainability of ecosystems and their vital services. Without effective local institutions, these resources are at high risk of exploitation, especially to feed global markets. This study proposes a multiscale ecosystem framework (MEF) that incorporates information on ecosystem components, socioeconomic processes, and their interactions. This includes inter and intra common interactions and multi-scale processes to evaluate inter and intra scale changesin socioeconomic and ecological processes of commons. Local participation and multi-disciplinary information are critical in achieving sustainability. Using a global dataset of selected indicators, a general decline is observable in local commons that face globalization. The need for increasing resilience of commons through multi-scale adaptation strategies can inform decisions at the national, state and local levels. Increased resilience through ecosystem-based approach can minimize impacts of globalization using information on multiattribute processes, equity considerations, development of robust institutions, and effective strategies for adaptation

Nature-based solutions through collective actions for spatial justice in urban green commons

Urban climate adaptation through nature-based solutions (NBS) requires collective action that incorporates spatial justice considerations. Collective actions reveal new ways of thinking about urban green commons and spatial justice by reframing conventional understandings of NBS, space, and climate adaptation. Three urban green commons examined in Istanbul demonstrate how the grassroots-supported NBS must navigate complex land ownership arrangements, spatial justice, and opposing urban development priorities and socio-spatial reconfigurations spurred by local and national political elites. Using qualitative data collected from fieldwork carried out in 2019, we find critical relationships between activists, academics, professional organizations, and local residents collectively acting to promote urban green commons. NBS do not rely on the dominant techno-political processes that generate primarily infrastructure-based climate adaptation solutions in Istanbul. While spatial justice and collective action scholarship often pays attention to how disadvantaged communities gain recognition and involvement in decision making - such as establishing formal channels to access environmental goods and services - climate adaptation through NBS opens spaces of opportunity for these groups to promote justice and resist the dominant economic development paradigm. Further studies must pay attention to what extent collective actions create new socio-political identities that are harnessed to resist dominant techno-political processes, and when are these emergent identities co-opted by local and national governments.publishedVersio

Improved early detection of ovarian cancer using longitudinal multimarker models

© The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Background: Ovarian cancer has a poor survival rate due to late diagnosis and improved methods are needed for its early detection. Our primary objective was to identify and incorporate additional biomarkers into longitudinal models to improve on the performance of CA125 as a first-line screening test for ovarian cancer. Methods: This case–control study nested within UKCTOCS used 490 serial serum samples from 49 women later diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 31 control women who were cancer-free. Proteomics-based biomarker discovery was carried out using pooled samples and selected candidates, including those from the literature, assayed in all serial samples. Multimarker longitudinal models were derived and tested against CA125 for early detection of ovarian cancer. Results: The best performing models, incorporating CA125, HE4, CHI3L1, PEBP4 and/or AGR2, provided 85.7% sensitivity at 95.4% specificity up to 1 year before diagnosis, significantly improving on CA125 alone. For Type II cases (mostly high-grade serous), models achieved 95.5% sensitivity at 95.4% specificity. Predictive values were elevated earlier than CA125, showing the potential of models to improve lead time. Conclusions: We have identified candidate biomarkers and tested longitudinal multimarker models that significantly improve on CA125 for early detection of ovarian cancer. These models now warrant independent validation.Peer reviewe

What about local climate governance? A review of promise and problems

A large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions is produced in urban areas, particularly in high income countries. Cities are also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and particularly so in developing countries. Therefore, local climate policies for mitigation and adaptation have to play an important role in any effective global climate protection strategy. Based upon a systematic literature review, this article gives a comprehensive overview of motivation and challenges for local climate governance. A large part of the literature focuses on mitigation and cities in industrialized countries. The review also includes the smaller and emerging body of literature on adaptation and cities in developing or industrializing countries. Motivations and challenges we find fall into broad categories like ‘economic’, ‘informational’, ‘institutional’, ‘liveability’ or ‘political/cultural’. We conclude that the mix of motivation and challenges is city-specific, and that the national framework conditions are important. It matters, whether cities engage in mitigation or adaptation policies, whether they are located in developing, industrializing or industrialized countries, and at which stage of climate policy-making cities are. For many cities, cost savings are a primary motivation for local mitigation policies, while perceived vulnerability and a commitment to development is the primary motivator for adaptation policies. The collective action problem of climate protection (also known as ‘Tragedy of the Commons’) and inappropriate legal frameworks are key barriers to mitigation policies. Challenges for adaptation include financial constraints, and a lack of expertise, cooperation, leadership and political support. Understanding their specific motivation and challenges may support cities in developing appropriate local climate action plans. Furthermore, the understanding of motivation and challenges can inform other policy levels that want to help realize the local climate protection potential.Climate policy, local authorities, cities, mitigation, adaptation, energy, local climate governance

Creative Commons as Conversational Copyright

Copyright law\u27s default settings inhibit sharing and adaptation of creative works even though new digital technologies greatly enhance individuals\u27 capacity to engage in creative conversation. Creative Commons licenses enable a form of conversational copyright through which creators share their works, primarily over the Internet, while asserting some limitation on user\u27s right with respect to works in the licensed commons. More specifically, this chapter explains the problems in copyright law to which Creative Commons licenses respond, the methods chosen, and why the machine-readable and public aspects of the licenses are specific examples of a more general phenomenon in digital copyright law that will grow in importance in the coming years

Creative Commons as Conversational Copyright

Copyright law\u27s default settings inhibit sharing and adaptation of creative works even though new digital technologies greatly enhance individuals\u27 capacity to engage in creative conversation. Creative Commons licenses enable a form of conversational copyright through which creators share their works, primarily over the Internet, while asserting some limitation on user\u27s right with respect to works in the licensed commons. More specifically, this chapter explains the problems in copyright law to which Creative Commons licenses respond, the methods chosen, and why the machine-readable and public aspects of the licenses are specific examples of a more general phenomenon in digital copyright law that will grow in importance in the coming years

Influence of Muscle Fatigue on Electromyogram-Kinematic Correlation During Robot-Assisted Upper Limb Training

© The Author(s) 2020. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us. sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Introduction: Studies on adaptive robot-assisted upper limb training interactions do not often consider the implications of muscle fatigue sufficiently. Methods: In order to explore this, we initially assessed muscle fatigue in 10 healthy subjects using electromyogram features (average power and median power frequency) during an assist-as-needed interaction with HapticMASTER robot. Spearman’s correlation study was conducted between EMG average power and kinematic force components. Since the robotic assistance resulted in a variable fatigue profile across participants, a completely tiring experiment, without a robot in the loop, was also designed to confirm the results. Results: A significant increase in average power and a decrease in median frequency were observed in the most active muscles. Average power in the frequency band of 0.8-2.5Hz and median frequency in the band of 20-450Hz are potential fatigue indicators. Also, comparing the correlation coefficients across trials indicated that correlation was reduced as the muscles were fatigued. Conclusions: Robotic assistance based on user’s performance has resulted in lesser muscle fatigue, which caused an increase in the EMG-force correlation. We now intend to utilize the electromyogram and kinematic features for the auto-adaptation of therapeutic human-robot interactions.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Correction to:Expanding controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death: statement from an international collaborative (Intensive Care Medicine, (2021), 47, 3, (265-281), 10.1007/s00134-020-06341-7)

The article “Expanding controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death: statement from an international collaborative”, written by Domínguez-Gil, B., Ascher, N., Capron, A.M. et al. was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal on 21 February 2021 without open access. With the author(s)’ decision to opt for Open Choice the copyright of the article changed on 25 March 2021 to © The Author(s) 2021 and the article is forthwith distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. The original article has been corrected